Personal Bests

A Look Back.

Today is my first day home with Cullen by myself, and I can’t believe I’m just finally getting to type this out at 5pm. He is peacefully snuggled up on my chest, and I am learning quickly to take advantage of any and all time when I have two hands available!

While I have most definitely NOT made my return to the kitchen just yet, I do have a few fun reminders of past kitchen projects that showed up in my mailbox recently. The November issue of SELF Magazine…

You might remember a while back when I did a big spread (no pun intended) on hummus for Oprah Magazine. I was thrilled when they asked me to do another recipe development project for them, which just hit the stands for the November issue…

What did I cook up this time? GRANOLA!

I spent about a week turning my kitchen into a granola factory this summer. You have never seen so many rolled oats in one kitchen! It was a really fun project to do, and I still can’t quite get over seeing my name next to a two-page piece in a magazine that I love.

So even though I’m not quite back to cooking and baking just yet, these projects are motivating and get me excited for all the great food that is to come once I get my bearings with this whole motherhood thing. In the meantime, we are lucky enough to have friends bringing us meals during the month of November to help us get through this transition phase.

Also, I’m back to writing on Babble this week, and you can check out my last few Being Pregnant posts here…

Check it out – a rare weekend post! We’re having so much fun with our new little family, and I thought I’d pop in to share a few pictures of what we’ve been up to since coming home from the hospital last Saturday.

Since my mom came out on October 14th (someone was too excited to stay home and wait for the baby!), she ended up being here when I went into labor. This turned out to be a huge blessing, since we were in the hospital from Tuesday through Saturday. She stayed at our house and took care of the dogs, which was a huge relief and help to us. Plus she got to be here on the day he was born – so special!

The day we came home from the hospital, Casey’s parents were also flying into town so we had a VERY full house. Emotions were high (hormones!), and when we pulled up in front of the house and saw this, I started sobbing. Too cute!

Casey is a natural with Cullen, and I have so much fun watching them. He is convinced Cullen doesn’t like him, but that’s just because he is usually on diaper duty, which is baby’s least favorite activity.

He gets lots and lots of kisses and snuggles.

It was nice having all our parents here to celebrate Cullen’s arrival, and everyone wanted to hold him and spoil him all day long. Occasionally Casey and I would escape with him so the three of us could have a little alone time. On day three, we took our first walk with the new stroller! Because of my limited mobility, we only went around two blocks, but it felt great to get out and get him into the neighborhood.

Many of you asked about how the pups are adjusting to our new addition, and I can’t believe I forgot to mention it in the weekly update! The initial reaction when we came home was a little tougher than I initially imagined. Indy ran around the house whining and acting like he had been traumatized, and Huey was absolutely terrified of Cullen. They both acted like freaks for a few days, afraid to get near him, barking when he cries, etc.

Slowly but surely, I think they realized this change is permanent, and they are starting to warm up to their new little brother.

I won’t leave him with them unsupervised because they are definitely still adjusting, but things are much much better now that a week has passed.

Now that the grandparents have all gone home and they realize they aren’t going to get spoiled by anyone else, they have warmed back up to us and are pretty much back to their normal selves. We’re making sure to give them extra scratches and cuddles as much as possible.

I’ve also been experimenting with all my baby-wearing devices – the Ergo and the Moby wrap. It’s so nice to strap Cullen on and go about my business while he naps. He is such a snuggle bug down in there, and he naps so peacefully on my chest.

Now that it’s just us three (or five!), Casey and I are finally getting a feel for what life is like with our new family member. We’ve been spending extra time cuddling in bed with him in the mornings, taking him to coffee shops, going for walks, and doing our best to blend our “old life” with all that is new.